"Sportswriter
Tuohy (Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI, 2013,
etc.) presents, in depth, the seamy world of football gambling.

"Sports
are betting games, and football is no different. Tuohy, who has written
about sports for many publications, including Vice, here effectively
brings to light what he sees as the illusory nature of football’s
vaunted integrity. Financially strapped, amateur-status college players
generate significant money for vested interests, so, to the author, it
hardly seems hypocritical when they accept rewards under the table. But
Tuohy’s biggest bugbear is the National Football League, which presents a
squeaky-clean image to the world. The NFL says it doesn’t condone
gambling, but such talk is meaningless, the author says, when gambling
is legal and vigorous in Nevada. Tuohy admits that there’s “no record”
of the biggest, most shadowy operators. But the records of police
departments, the FBI, and investigative reporters offer clear evidence
of an army of bookies ready to service bettors and organized crime:
“Bookies are the foot soldiers of this illegal empire,” writes Tuohy.
“They make the wheels turn, grinding those profits into the mob’s
coffers.” They also may generate some $80 billion a year in unlawful
bets, he says. His book also has much to report on the ruinous fallout
from gambling, including addiction, players missing a block or faking an
injury for payola, and the consequences of repeated concussions.
Overall, Tuohy, who’s written at length about sports gambling in the
past, is an excellent Virgil for this inferno. What makes his history of
football wagering particularly pungent is that it comes in the wake of
so many other football-related scandals, such as those involving
physical abuse, cheating, and brain trauma. His tone is tough and
common-sensical throughout, and he writes at times like he’s talking
around a cigar: one “legendary oddsmaker,” he says, “was pinched by the
feds” before he could hoodwink any more “noobs.”